The present invention relates to apparatus or placement or installation of weatherstripping into members, such as the frames of windows and doors, and more particularly enables the accommodation of weatherstripping having interference portions which restrict the movement of the weatherstripping in the frame or door after installation, while accommodating variations in size or tolerance in the slot, usually a T-slot in the frame member into which the weatherstripping is installed.
It is a feature of the invention to provide apparatus which is universally adapted for use with different designs or styles of weatherstripping and facilitates installation of the weatherstripping by preventing overloading of the insertion mechanism of automatic weatherstripping insertion apparatus.
Conventionally, weatherstripping is inserted in T-slots by feeding the weatherstripping through the slot from one end thereof. The weatherstripping may have a backing strip from which a row of pile extends. Such weatherstripping may also have interference members for restricting the movement of the weatherstripping in the frame after installation thereby ensuring that the weatherstripping does not slip, and sealing as provided by the weatherstripping, notwithstanding movement of the sash or frame of the windows of doors, is maintained.
By way of background, one style of machine for insertion of weatherstripping is shown in Miller et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,400 issued Jun. 2, 1998. Weatherstripping having backing strip with interference members, which may be installed through use of apparatus provided by the invention, is described in Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,802 issued Aug. 8, 1995.
The T-slots in frames of windows and doors, particularly vinyl windows, may vary in size sufficiently to prevent reliable installation of the weatherstripping, especially by insertion and feeding of the weatherstripping into an open end of the T-slot. When the T-slot opening is too tight, the insertion mechanism can be overloaded, particularly for long lengths of T-slot, stalling the insertion mechanism. Then resort must be had to insertion from the top of the T-slot, as with rollers which engage and bend the backing strip. Such roll in devices are mentioned in the above referenced Johnson patent. Roll in can increase the labor required to install the weatherstripping and is desirably avoided. The present invention increases the practicability of weatherstripping insertion apparatus by facilitating the use of mechanisms which enable automatic insertion of the weatherstripping into the T-slot from one end of the frame.
Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to provide improved apparatus for facilitating the placement of weatherstripping in channels designed to receive weatherstripping; which channels may be in the frames or sash of windows or doors into which the window sash is received.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus which facilitates placement of weatherstripping, and universally accommodates various styles of weatherstripping as well as tolerances in the cross section of the channels in which the weatherstripping is placed.
It is a still farther object of the present invention to provide apparatus for reducing the cost of installation of weatherstripping.
Briefly described, the invention is adapted for use in apparatus for placement of a weatherstrip into a channel in a member from which a sealing portion of the weatherstripping extends outwardly into sealing relationship with another member. The weatherstrip has portions which are engagable with the channel to restrict movement of the weatherstrip when placed in the channel. The apparatus includes a forming tool and a support in which the tool is mounted for movement with respect to a passage through the support via which the weatherstrip passes into the mechanism for driving the weatherstrip into the end of the channel, thereby installing the weatherstrip. The forming tool reforms as by swaging, the portions of the weatherstrip which may interfere with the insertion while leaving enough of the members to provide an interfering relationship and restrict the movement of the weatherstrip after installation. The weatherstrip has a backing member of visco-elastic material, such as a plastic, preferably a polyolefin such as polypropylene, which is reformed as by swaging or crimping so as to change the size of the interference portions so as to accommodate the channel in the member in which the weatherstripping is installed. The forming tool therefore controls the magnitude of restriction of movement of the weatherstrip engendered by the interference portions thereof. The amount of control is adjustably by displacing the forming tool so as to accommodate a large variation in the size (the cross section) of the channel in the frame member into which the weatherstrip is placed or the length of the frame (along slot exerting a greater restraining force against insertion of the weatherstripping). The tool may be mounted on a cam or eccentric shaft for this purpose. Placement of the weatherstrip by insertion and feeding or drawing into the frame member slot is thereby facilitated.